Skill Order

Champion Matchups

Introduction

Pantheon is my favorite champ in the game, i've played him since i first ever started (around 2010) and i have refined my build and it works and i have used it through Season 2 and have updated it for Season 3.

First i have to say with this build he's strong all game long, he's does well the whole time and i find this build helps him from falling off late game due to no damage/not enough durability.

My username is Gardinfell.

This is my first guide and I've looked at other guide's but the main thing about this guide is the item build and if i can maybe my play style, the early, mid, late game stuff will most likely be better in other guides of pantheon(because i don't quite know what to say).

This guide helps pantheon not to fall out late game, through the balance between damage and durability.

I would have screen shots but I can't seem to get it right, but I hope you can still get out of it what I want.

This build is for solo-top use, but can be used for mid with the right changes (same with jungle), which i will be talking about.

Masteries

Defense Tree:

Summoners Resolve: (Special affect on Summoner spells) For the bonus on heal.

Perseverance: (Health Regen) This mastery helps with the start of only 1 Hpot, just helps you to stay in lane longer.

Hardiness/Resistance: (Armor/MR) Always good to have a bit more tankiness around, but not much to explain.

Wanderer: (Movement speed) Helps get to lane, in range of ult, escape ganks, kind of general things MS helps with.

Meditation: (Mana Regen) You'll always want it even if you don't "need", if you just don't have the mana to poke or if you just want to poke more, it's always a help.

Improved Recall: (Faster Recall) It's always better to be able to get out of bad spots faster and if you recall faster than you you get to lane faster.

Mastermind: (Lower cool-down for Summoner spells) Always good to have your only escapes (other then Panth's ult) faster and more often.

Greed: (Passive gold gain) Not much to explain, more gold more items, more advantage.

Awareness: (Higher percent XP gain) Same as with Greed, more XP from minions and champion kills, bigger advantage, on the plus side if you DO get behind this can help get you back into the fight, and be more help than dead weight.

Intelligence: (Cool-down reduction) Less CD, more abilities, more poke and damage...more advantage...

This isn't super detailed, but over all it's about staying in lane and gaining the advantage if you can't tell...

Runes

9 Greater Mark of Attack Damage.
Damage for last hitting and trading, not a complicated reason for this, I take them for the early game damage with poke and such.

5 Greater Seal of Scaling Armor.
Better for tankier late game.

4 Greater Seal of Armor.
I take these for the early game durability, while Still trading some out for late game.

9 Greater Glyph of Mana Regeneration.
Take these to have the mana for poke, Panth doesn't need them late game, so it's all for the early game poke

3 Greater Quintessence of Scaling Attack Damage.
For the late game damage scaling.

Basically my whole runes page is about mixing the early and late game, balancing so that he keeps steady, instead of dominating early but falling off late you or vice versa.

Summoner spells

I get Heal for the bait, pantheon has really strong low health 1v1 potential with his 's passive, and a bait Heal, it just takes timing.

I take flash for it's utility of escaping, chasing, even mobility in team fights, it's short but there is a trick to it, here's a video i found talking about flash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZUhfTvDmuQ, this knowledge has given me a lot of escapes.

OPTIONAL SUMMONERS Good for out trading high damage enemies, (i found this trick that if you exhaust a fiora right before her ult it barely does any damage)so if your against a champ that would normally out trade you, it's good.

You can use this against AA based champs to stop them from life stealing but other then that it's only good for the added burst damage, which most people think Panth doesn't have high enough burst, so it's not bad.

It can be good for even better map presence but it's not nearly as good on Panth because Panth has it almost built in with i more direct placement (not based on wards or minions).

You could replace flash with this but i like flash more for it utility, but for being top it's better against ganks then flash is half the time.

Only for jungle which I'll talk about that later.

Skills

Aegis Protection (Innate): After attacking or casting spells 4 times, Pantheon will gain a shield that will block the next Tower Shot, normal or enhanced standard attack that deals more than 40 physical damage to him.

Every Panth guide will tell you about this abilities tower diving potential, if you play right you can tower dive without taking any tower damage, always proc your passive then grab tower aggro, wait for you to get hit (unless you can't wait), for the instant proc, into the full combo.

Only way to optimize this passive is to see when you get it and when you lose it and then combo it with to get it back.

Pros:
Strong poke, and finishing off opponents.
great crit synergy with , as well as crit enhancing Runes/Masteries/Items (like IE)
It's a stronger AA but ranged.Cons:
Not a long range.
It does not count as an AA(proc'ing on-hit affects and such).

Pros:
Synergies with Black Cleaver, for the armor reduction.
Synergies with for a 1 sec stun and .75 sec channel time.
If you hit a champ with the full channeled ability it's: 78 / 138 / 198 / 258 / 318 (+3.6 per bonus attack damage)Cons:
It's channeled, being stoppable.
Other then Heal, you have no health gain during this time making you vulnerable in this time.

"R"
Grand Skyfall (Active): Pantheon gathers his strength channeling for 2 seconds and then leaps high into the air, crashing down at the target area 1.5 seconds later. Deals magic damage to units at the center (down to 50% at the edge) and slows them by 35% for 1 second. If the channeling is cancelled, the cooldown is reduced to 10 seconds.
Cost: 125 mana
Range to Center of AoE: 5500
Diameter of AoE: 1000 (estimate)

Pros:
If you hit your target it's devastating.
High damage with a slow.
large radius.
Can't be by the enemy seen till the last 1.5 second.
Synergy with all other abilities, being able to use them in the last 1.5 seconds of the ult.Cons:
Can be dodged pretty easy.
Takes a while to get used to aiming at something 3.5 seconds in time away.

Tips

I'm not sure everyone knows but enemies can't see the ult radius till second half of the ult giving you a bit more surprise, In the second half of the ult you can use your abilities, allowing you to stun them before you land so they won't escape at the last moment.

When someone is taking your tower you can easily stop them with one ult, if you ult relatively near where the range minions are you should scare them out from under your tower or if they have bad reaction timing you can hit them with your "W" (late game your ult will kill most minions so the tower will target the champion.

It's better to be ahead then to be behind, keep this in mind when ulting, better to land ahead of them than to be behind and lose the kill (obviously).

Over time you will get better with landing ults (judging the movement of the enemy).

Try to gank a lane with your ult every time they overextend, but don't start roaming till you have the enemy tower.

All of Panth's basic abilities have the same range, just something to keep in mind.

I find best combo is mainly R-W-E-Q (if you ult) i've tried to "Q" before jumping but only do this if you are right on top of them, it will slow you down if you you are chasing.

you can use your ult to escape, (and if it's your life or your ult...) but you just have to be careful it's channel can be stopped by knock-ups, knock-backs, stun...etc...

Skill Order

Priority is:/ "R" "E" "Q" "W".

why:
Only thing I really need to explain is why I get "E" instead of "Q", but let's continue.

"E"
I take "E" for the high damage and AoE, a full channel against champs (not that hard to get) deals more damage than "Q" with an even higher AD ratio, by the time you get to late game it's done more damage to more people than "Q".

"Q"
Explain why to get "E" instead of "Q", it's just that "Q" does less damage, especially late game.

"W"
It's only that this ability has no scaling power, and already has the full length of stun it ever gets.

Item builds

Start with Boots/ward/Hpot, the ward gives me better defense against early ganks, and I have Health regen masteries to help with only one Hpot.

You can always get more wards/HPots/ManaPots if needed, you should only need about one other ward before you get Wriggles Lantern, and maybe 3 Hpots if getting poked hard, and you shouldn't need any help with mana if you play right and have either Mana regen runes(which i have) or masteries.

You can get a Doran's Blade before you finish boots, mainly for the extra durability, but they nerfed it's LS to a flat 5 hp per AA.

(I don't get mercury's treads myself, because if your the focus of cc your either caught out of place or everyone else is dead, and if you get the Mercurial Scimitar then you don't need them as much anyway(if they a have a all AP team then go ahead))

I get the Enchantment HomeGuard because it helps with getting close to a lane for Pantheon's ult to stop a push or help with a team fight, but you can choose any of the enchantments, like if you get Warmogs you can get Furor to keep up without them instead of have Frozen Mallet to slow them, although they nerfed warmog's so it doesn't gain hp with kills so you don't get tankier as the game goes on, as well as the fact that frozen mallet keeps them in place while furor keeps you up with them, so you decide which you want.

Next Get Wriggle's, start building the Vampiric Scepter then get the Madred's Razors, after you get Wriggle's get either Maw of Malmortius or Mercurial scimitar, for the Maw start building the Hexdrinker first and with the Scimitar build the B.F. Sword first.

Mid Tip:
If you're mid you just get the Hexdrinker right after the Vampiric Scepter but before the Wriggles, at that point you can finish either with little draw back.

The items I use to start give a ward for early ganks then leading into Wriggle's for more wards mid and late game.

The only thing left is to trade Wriggle's for The BloodThirster, farm it and you have a finished build, as long as the support is good and wards correctly you won't need the ward anymore (don't forget to ward with Wriggles almost every time you can it really is a great item.

Side Note:
Pantheon can solo dragon at level 11 with Berserker Greaves, Wriggle's, and Hexdrinker.

Early game

How i play early game as pantheon is to try being a bit more passive (only poke with when you have full mana, don't get too close, etc. ) and if they engage you, try to do damage but don't commit.

If you can kill them without dying, great, just try to use that advantage and zone them, push the lane or kill them (just always watch for ganks)

When you hit level 3 you should have all your abilities, this is the best time you to either call for a gank or go for the kill by yourself, especially if your lane opponent is behind a level, meaning they don't have all of their abilities, then you can push the advantage for a kill, etc.

As I said, I'll talk about how to lane against other champs,
for OLAF, be careful Olaf can usually out trade you, basically do the opposite of what he does, if he's aggressive be passive, and vice versa. (always keep in mind of ganks)

For DARIUS, be very passive, against him you can barely poke cause his pull is almost the same range as your "Q", ask for as many ganks as you can get, and if you get an advantage try to zone him out.

For SHEN, dodge his taunt and poke him as much as you can then go for the kill, you should be able to out trade him if you dodge his taunt, you can usually "E" him for most of the damage, if he ults just "W" him to stop it and you could have just helped a kill in another lane.

For TEEMO, just try to watch and see where he puts shrooms(EX. if he keeps walking into brush then coming out right after, he's most likely placing shrooms), wait for level 3 and then go for the kill, he's 'usually' squishy enough for about 3 spears and a full combo(unless he heals or uses Hpots).

For GANGPLANK, a funny thing is that gangplank can actually beat pantheon in 1v1 level 1 fights (all down to a more spammable "Q"), just try to poke like normal, wait for level 3 and go for the kill.

For GAREN, Garen is one of Panth's counters, strong passive to counter his poke, and if you engage, then it's a down hill fight unless you can get out without flash or at least before he's able to react.

For most other champions, all you need to do is poke and then burst for the kill, but you should always be ready for anything, just take advantage of anything you can (better ganks, first blood, enemies mistakes, etc.)

Mid game

Mid game is about the time people start to roam, which i suggest is about the time you get the enemy tower, you can always gank mid before now but try to be back before your lane opponent can push.

If your fed from your lane this is about the time you'll do best,you'll have high damage and durability, with the ability to be almost anywhere on the map, if not your still going to be either average or you'll get fed

Pantheon has a lot of presence on the map, he can be farming top then he can immediately be mid to stop a push, keep this in mind, it allows you to always be farming because at anytime you can instantly be at a team fight (i'll talk on team fights more in the...uhhh...TEAM FIGHT section), this is also time to use wriggle's ward on baron/ dragon or other main warding spots instead of just top.

Most of the time you can camp mid or bot and help them push lanes, especially if your fed you can push faster than other(not super fed) lanes, so you can help in that way, basically take top tower then camp mid for the tower and then bot for the tower, and just keep pressure on all lanes, if you have at least 2 lanes down to the inhib without missing a tower on your side, it's almost definite that you'll win.

(Best way to know if your winning your lane is if you still have your tower and your opponent doesn't(other ways include who has a kill streak(and if so how high of one?), who's higher level, etc.))

Late game

Late game for me is just more items which means more killing which means you have the ability to fly and be invisible and go through walls and back stab, murder and use lazer vision and see through walls and kill and live forever and be Chuck Nor........wait......that's....not.......right... let me start that over again.

Late game is where pantheon get's really strong, high sustain, damage, durability, if your fed you can do almost anything, if not your still really strong(even if your behind once you get to late game you start to catch up.).

You can Back Door inhibitors, ruin team fights with your ult, and get quads and pentas if your lucky.

Not much i can say at this point other the your really strong, but just try to stay alive and catch them off guard, defend and farm all game, Panth is a strong counter to BD'ing cause he can just ult stop them, try to only 2v1 them so the kill is almost definite.

Most likely the game will have ended before you ever get full build, but if it doesn't it's all skill from there on out (and teamwork that is).

Never stop pushing, if you get cocky and think that nothing can stop you from winning?(it's really dangerous to think that way) never give up the chance to win, yes, you can get baron but only if it helps you push(EX. if the enemy only has inhibs and nexus towers, you should push to win after you win a team fight not baron.).

Never give up, this is the time you can turn around the game if you doing bad, sometimes you can't but there is always the chance as long as you don't give up.

Team fights

First off: The best team fights are where you can ult in.

Second: If you can't ult in try to FLANK the ADC/APC, use "E", then use "W" for if they start to run or if the are life stealing the damage your dealing(or spell vamp).

Third: Try to get your team to know who to focus before team fights, after it starts try to stay ahead of the escape routes, remember most people have flash so if people start to run into dragon's den and you don't have flash try to cut them off in jungle either with your ult or just run around the Dragon Den

Fourth: Pantheon's ult has a slow so use it to your advantage, maybe after you hit them with ult wait for the slow to end then "W" them for the kill.

Fifth: Don't get caught up with using "E" in team fights because you can't life steal with it so if they focus you your dead if you have no way to gain life.

Jungling

First off with the new S3 jungle Pantheon is really strong, I'll tell you why.

Strong single target damage, also good AoE, plus the new hunter's machete.

Stronger and more definite ganks, as long as you come in from the right angle you almost always force some damage and zoning, flash or a kill.

Synergies really well with Pantheon's ult, not even needed to get close enough to even be seen by wards is really good.

Sadly doesn't have as fast of clear as some other junglers.

just trade out Smite for Heal, change masteries to 0/9/21:

In DEFENSE:
Tough Skin and Bladed armor.
3 In perseverance.
2 In hardiness.
and Summoner's resolve.

In UTILITY:
Summoner's Insight.
3 In Wanderer.
Improved Recall.
3 In Mastermind.
Runic Affinity.
3 In Vampirism.
4 In Awareness
1 In Strenth Of Spirit.
3 In Intelligence.
and Nimble.

These mysteries give you some in the Defensive tree helping you with damage mitigation, and utility for xp, buff duration, move speed, CD. Over all I use this for most junglers.

Start with "Q", machete, and 5 Hpots, get "E" at level 2 and "W" at level 3.

Comments

Sorry man but you're going very wrong with Panth. If you win building like this is only because in low elo aanything can work. But in reality you're building terribly wrong.

-No Maw unless its a very heavy AP team and your lane opponent is an AP.

-NO IE. Blood Thirstier is second item after Brutalizer. Then go tankier. Frozen Mallet only if you're winning already, if not probably a Frozen Heart is the best next item and finish with GA and another tany item. Merc boots are almost a must get unless they have 3+ auto attackers then get ninja tabi.